David, in his covenant with Jonathan, had promised that when he should have rest from his enemies he would show kindness to the house of Saul. In his prosperity, mindful of this covenant, the king made inquiry, “Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?” He was told of a son of Jonathan, Mephibosheth, who had been lame from childhood. At the time of Saul's defeat by the Philistines at Jezreel, the nurse of this child, attempting to flee with him, had let him fall, thus making him a lifelong cripple. David now summoned the young man to court and received him with great kindness. The private possessions of Saul were restored to him for the support of his household; but the son of Jonathan was himself to be the constant guest of the king, sitting daily at the royal table. Through reports from the enemies of David, Mephibosheth had been led to cherish a strong prejudice against him as a usurper; but the monarch's generous and cour…
"And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?"
EGW directly quotes 2 Samuel 9:1, making it an explicit allusion.
"After David's establishment upon the throne of Israel the nation enjoyed a long interval of peace. The surrounding peoples, seeing the strength and unity of the kingdom, soon thought it prudent to desist from open hostilities; and David, occupied with the organization and upbuilding of his kingdom, refrained from aggressive war. At last, however, he made war upon Israel's old enemies, the Philistines, and upon the Moabites, and succeeded in overcoming both and making them tributary. PP 713.2"
"And after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them: and David took Metheg–ammah out of the hand of the Philistines. And he smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground; even with two lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive. And so the Moabites became David’s servants, and brought gifts."
The EGW passage directly summarizes and expands upon the events described in 2 Samuel 8:1-2, detailing David's victories over the Philistines and Moabites. It's more than a thematic parallel; it's a direct recounting of the biblical narrative.
"Then there was formed against the kingdom of David a vast coalition of the surrounding nations, out of which grew the greatest wars and victories of his reign and the most extensive accessions to his power. This hostile alliance, which really sprang from jealousy of David's increasing power, had been wholly unprovoked by him. The circumstances that led to its rise were these: PP 713.3"
"Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?"
The EGW passage describes a coalition of nations forming against David, driven by jealousy. This thematically parallels Psalm 2:1, which questions why nations conspire and plot in vain. The context of unprovoked hostility and resistance to divinely ordained authority strengthens the connection.